Tragic Blessings
by Dream Keeper
Summary: Its about two twins that are born and one of them is stillborn but suddenly comes back to life.... Then they both have medical problems and Wufei and Sally have to learn to cope with that.... But can Wufei?
1. Miricles

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Dream Keeper: Well folks, standard yada. I do not own Gundam Wing. *Sniffs* I wish I did but I don't. The G-boys and girls belong to their respectable owners. I am just using them for this twisted fic. I promise to return them, only slightly worse for the wear when we're through with them. Um.. Anything else?  
  
Christa: Well, basically the plot is different so it's ours!!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha! We finally own a plot!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!! *Dances around the room*  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, crazy muse. Anyway, we own the original character(s). Like Christa said, the plot is ours and um. other than that I think we've covered everything.  
  
Christa: Its about time we got a plot of our own too! Its OURS! NOBODY MESS WITH IT OR YOU'LL MESS WITH THIS MUSE!  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, a little overprotective.. Anyway, on with the fic! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~  
  
Prolog  
  
Wufei passed the waiting room floor outside the room his wife was in. Sally had been in labor for the last 12 hours and to him it seemed as if time was dragging its feet just to spite him. He refused to go in the room with her because he'd been taught when he was small that it wasn't right.  
  
A muffled scream emitted from the room and that was almost enough to make him stop passing and run in there to see what was wrong. But he was saved the trouble by a tired looking doctor coming out of the room.  
  
All of the former pilots and their girls stood up as the doctor entered the waiting room. They all anxiously awaited the news of the baby's birth but when they saw the look on the doctors face their hearts plummeted into their stomachs and they all turned to see what Wufei was going to do.  
  
Wufei steeled himself against the worst news possible. He thought he was ready for anything after the bloody battles he fought but he was wrong. Nothing he felt back then compared to the knot of dream that settled itself in his stomach.  
  
"Well, you have a baby girl Mr. Chang."  
  
Relief swept through Wufei and a smile caressed his lips. "How's Sally?"  
  
"Your wife is fine sir. Tired, but fine."  
  
Then it dawned on Wufei what the doctor had said. "Wait, you said _a_ baby girl. Weren't we.." He trailed off unable to complete the sentence.  
  
"I'm sorry Mr. Chang. The baby's umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. We did everything we could to save him but sadly he passed onto God a minute or so ago." He placed a hand on Wufei's shoulder to try to comfort him but it did no good. Tears started to pour down his cheeks and he slowly walked past the doctor towards the room. Just as he was about to open the door the nurse burst out carrying something wrapped in a blanket that was crying shrilly.  
  
"Doctor Meyagi! He's alive! He's really alive!" the nurse cried as she held the baby out for everyone to see. The baby was truly alive, not just breathing. Its shrieks echoed in the hallway and it kicked and flailed its fists with all its might. Wufie took one look at him and carefully took him from the nurse. "Dr. Meyagi, he's a medical miracle!" The nurse said excitedly.  
  
"That doesn't matter Jenny. You all did your very best and it paid off." He said happily as he watched the new father enter the room.  
  
"But sir, all of us gave him up for dead. We didn't work on him at all after you left. He just started screaming and scared all of us out of our wits." She whispered to him.  
  
"You didn't do a thing?" Meyagi couldn't believe that.  
  
"None of us even touched him sir." Jenny confirmed.  
  
"Well, then he's not a medical miracle Jenny. He's a gift from God." Miyagi said as he walked slowly down the hall.  
  
***  
  
"Sally, here's our baby boy." Wufei said as he set the baby on her chest across from their baby girl.  
  
"Wufei, he's dead." Sally cried pitifully as the covered her face with her hand as best she could. But the infant let out a screech and Sally just stared at him. Then she looked at Wufei beaming with joy at her.  
  
"No Sally, he's not dead. He's as much alive as our little girl there." He leaned down and kissed his wife on her forehead and brushed a wisp of hair away from her face that had gotten free from its braid during labor.  
  
"What will we call them?" She whispered, as not to wake them since they'd fallen asleep. The little girl had been carrying on since she was borne, and so had the boy until they both settled on their mothers chest.  
  
"How about Lan Caihe and Shen?" he suggested.  
  
"I think those names will do wonderfully." One child named after Sally's deceased mother and one after Wufei's deceased father. Also, both were the names of a pair of twins from ancient legends. That _would_ do wonderfully.  
  
"Aishitaru Sally." Wufei whispered to her.  
  
"Aishitaru Wufei." She whispered back as the darkness finally claimed her and she slept.  
  
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Dream Keeper: Okay, Mayumi is pronounced My-you-me. Okay? Keep it strait. Its my Japanese teachers name.  
  
Christa: yeah, kinda fitting that we'd use the name here since she's due to have her baby here this month.  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, warning, yeah the prolog was a little sappy and jerky, but I wasn't sure how to write it. The rest of the fic may also be a bit jerky but I'll try to make it move smoothly.  
  
Christa: We've never read anything like this before so, sorry. We're just trying to get a point across to some people. (point explained in next chapter)  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, about time for bed so goodnight for tonight folks! *stifles a yawn*  
  
Christa: *waves* bye! Oh, and don't forget, r&r which means read AND REVIEW! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~ 


	2. Is this Goodbye?

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Dream Keeper: Well folks, standard yada. I do not own Gundam Wing. *Sniffs* I wish I did but I don't. The G-boys and girls belong to their respectable owners. I am just using them for this twisted fic. I promise to return them, only slightly worse for the wear when we're through with them. Um.. Anything else?  
  
Christa: Well, basically the plot is different so it's ours!!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha! We finally own a plot!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!! *Dances around the room*  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, crazy muse. Anyway, we own the original character(s). Like Christa said, the plot is ours and um. other than that I think we've covered everything.  
  
Christa: Its about time we got a plot of our own too! Its OURS! NOBODY MESS WITH IT OR YOU'LL MESS WITH THIS MUSE!  
  
Dream Keeper: You said that last disclaimer.  
  
Christa: I did? Oh. Well, its still ours! And the point we're trying to get across is that even if people are disabled, they're still people. We know some people that have down syndrome at our school and they're treated like freaks and they shouldn't be.  
  
Christa: Yeah. Oh, and Mayumi had her baby!! Yeah! Her name is Makayla! Can't wait until I get to see her! Innocent things are where muses get THEIR inspiration! *clears throat* Okay, on with the fic.  
  
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TEN YEARS LATER  
  
"So what did you find?" Sally asked Dr. Meyagi. Her son had been having some trouble walking for the past few days.  
  
"I'm afraid I don't have any good news for you Sally. You're son has been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy; the Duchenne type. You're a doctor. You know what that means."  
  
Sally nodded mutely. Of course she knew what it was. Her great grandmother had had it. Her mother hadn't had it, neither had her father, so she'd thought she was safe. "I'm a carrier then?"  
  
Meyagi nodded. "The only comfort I might give you is that its not entirely disabling. He'll still need a wheel chair, but he'll be able to walk short distances and such."  
  
"Yes, that's good to hear." Sally walked out of the hospital in a daze with her son at her side. He didn't understand why he had to be wheeled out to their car in a wheel chair and he was even more confused when it was folded up and put in the car.  
  
"Mom, why are we taking the wheel chair with us?" he questioned, his voice filled with puzzlement.  
  
"We'll talk when we get home." Sally stated. Shen knew his mother didn't like what she'd heard at the hospital so he didn't bother her. Instead, he sat thinking about all the possible things that she could be upset about.  
  
~*~  
  
"Duchenne type muscular dystrophy?" Wufei said as he leaned back in his chair to let the news sink in.  
  
"What is that mom?" Shen asked quietly from the wheel chair. His wheel chair, he realized.  
  
"Its when the muscles in your legs don't work right. They're too weak to be of much use to you. That's why you need to have a wheel chair Shen. It won't be long before your legs won't support you. The muscles in your legs are just going to keep getting weaker." Sally started to sob softly then and she wiped a hand impatiently over her teary eyes.  
  
"It doesn't matter if I can walk mom. I'm fine with being in a wheel chair. I just don't want you to be unhappy. I'm sorry I won't be able to play any normal sports for you to watch anymore, but that's the hand life dealt me." Sally noticed, not for the first time, how very precocious her ten year old son was. When she'd been his age she'd been out playing with her friends and acting much too childish for her own age. Her son was just the opposite. Shen had always helped with his sister, doing anything and everything he could for her and his parents, and he'd always given so much without asking anything in return.  
  
{Why? Why did you do this to him?!} Sally mentally demanded of whatever deity was listening but she received no answer or divine advice. "You'll still have to move on your own Shen, you won't be in a wheel chair all the time, just some. You're muscles won't deteriorate as fast if you're active."  
  
"Okay." He got up and went to his mother to give her a hug. "Don't cry mom. Everything will be fine. You'll see." He said before he let go and walked towards his room.  
  
"Wufei? Why don't you say anything?"  
  
"Two? We have two disabled children?"  
  
"Can't you think of it any other way? You know that Lan Caihe is a bright girl, and that Shen's good at a lot of things besides active sports? Better in fact, if you want to know the truth."  
  
"Sally, Lan Caihe hasn't spoken a word since she was born. She's mute and she doesn't want to be anywhere near us, and Shen's a cripple! How am I suppose to view them now?" He demanded of her.  
  
"View them like any loving father would Wufei. Just like I have to. Yes, its hard to cope with, but they're still our children! You have to support them! You don't know how hard it is for them around other children!" She shouted at him. "Lan Caihe has been jeered at and pushed around since she started going to school because she can't talk, so she can't tell what they did. And think about what Shen's going to have to deal with!" Tears flowed freely, unchecked down her face. She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "We're probably going to outlive our son Wufei."  
  
He just stared at her, uncomprehending for a minute, before reality sank in and shattered his world. "I don't know if I can deal wit that Sally." He said as he grabbed his coat and headed for the door.  
  
"Where are you going Wufei?!" She demanded.  
  
"I don't know. I just can't be here right now. I can't deal with this. I need time to think."  
  
"You're leaving?" She asked quietly.  
  
"If that's the way you view it. I'll be back in a few days for my things."  
  
"Know this Wufei, if you walk out that door now you will never come back as my husband." Sally said in a cold voice.  
  
"So be it." He replied as he walked out of the house, and out of their lives. True to his promise, he returned for his things two days later, and then disappeared. None of his friends knew where he'd gone. All they knew is that when the divorce papers came through, Sally signed them without a second thought.  
  
Sally spent the next four years raising her children on her own. She politely refused the aid her friends would have given her if she'd let them. Eventually, she opened a daycare for disabled children and started running it out of her house.  
  
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Dream Keeper: Sorry to end it so soon. Go onto the next chapter after you review!  
  
Christa: Please review! Sorry its so rushed but school started and its almost bed time. *sweatdrop* There just aren't enough hours in the day anymore.  
  
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	3. Starting Over

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Dream Keeper: Well folks, standard yada. I do not own Gundam Wing. *Sniffs* I wish I did but I don't. The G-boys and girls belong to their respectable owners. I am just using them for this twisted fic. I promise to return them, only slightly worse for the wear when we're through with them. Um.. Anything else?  
  
Christa: Well, basically the plot is different so it's ours!!!!!!!!! Ha ha ha! We finally own a plot!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!! *Dances around the room*  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, crazy muse. Anyway, we own the original character(s). Like Christa said, the plot is ours and um. other than that I think we've covered everything.  
  
Christa: Its about time we got a plot of our own too! Its OURS! NOBODY MESS WITH IT OR YOU'LL MESS WITH THIS MUSE!  
  
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It was four years before Shen even remotely began go rely on his wheel chair. Mostly he used it when he was tired, or would be doing something for a long time.  
  
"Need any help mom?" He asked one day as he wheeled the chair into the kitchen.  
  
"Can you get me the onions? Oh, er, Lan Caihe, please help him."  
  
"Yes mom." Sally heard her whisper as she moved past her mother and brother to go to the pantry and she couldn't help but smile. She'd found out the day Wufei left that she wasn't mute, but autistic.  
  
"You can stir the skillet for me while I cut them up." She told her son when Lan Caihe returned. Shen groaned but took the wooden spatula from her and continued to stir the stir-fry. As she cut the onions, sneaking occasional glances at her teenagers, she had to think about how remarkable they both were.  
  
Lan Caihe had turned into a beautiful young woman with long, straight, brownish hair that reached a little past her waist. She was of normal height, but her slenderness made people think often that she was frail, when she was no such thing.  
  
Shen on the other hand, was well muscled from his waist up and was very handsome. Right then, there was hardly a girl in school that didn't fancy him, even if he was in a wheel chair sometimes. From the waist down he wasn't as well muscled as he looked. From the time that he'd been ten, fat had started replacing the muscles in his legs because of the muscular dystrophy.  
  
Where Lan Caihe was interested in science, metal working, track, and cross country running, Shen was interested in english, history, math, and tending the small greenhouse out back. Shen was exceptionally smart and Lan Caihe was the star track runner. Shen was world wise, but Lan Caihe knew how to see into people's hearts. Together the pair could do anything, and they were inseparable most of the time.{They couldn't be more unalike and yet so close.} Sally thought as she took the spatula back from Shen and threw the onions into the skillet.  
  
"Where are you going?" Sally asked to his retreating back.  
  
"I'm going out to the shop. I was hoping to finish that darn carving I was working on. There were things to be said about dad being around." He grimaced but he knew he couldn't take back what he'd said. "You've taken great care of us mom." he was quick to assure her. "You can't do everything and we understand that."  
  
Lan Caihe leaned down and whispered something in his ear. "Lan says that there isn't another mom in the world that could do as good a job as you are, but you're not super woman. You can't do everything." Sally smiled sadly at them and waved them off towards their workshop.  
  
A knock on the door brought her out of her brooding thoughts. She sighed as she took off her apron, turned the stove off, and took the skillet off the burner. When the knock came again she yelled, "Coming!" When she got to the door she took a second to check in the mirror to see if she looked presentable before she opened it. "Yes?" she said cheerily before she laid eyes on who stood there.  
  
"Hello Sally."  
  
"What are you doing here? What do you want?"  
  
"May I come in?"  
  
"No, just turn right around and leave. We don't want you here. We're happy just the way we are."  
  
"Mom, have you seen my-" Shen's sentence died on his lips. "Dad?" his eyes went from sparkling cheerily to pained, to hard and unreadable. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"He was just leaving." Sally stated as she shut the door in his face. She locked it behind her knowing that he wouldn't give up. "You're tools are on the coffee table."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
~*~  
  
{What am I doing back here? They made it clear that they didn't want me around.} Wufei thought as he looked at the house from the wrote iron gate that was the boundary of their front yard. {I have to see them again. That's why. That's why I came back.}  
  
Slowly he made his way up the small walkway that was lined on either side with flowers. As he got closer to the house, memories ran through his head of how he and Sally had built this home with love. A flood of memories came back of days when he and his children had tumbled about on the lawn while Sally sat on the porch drinking lemonade, and the first time they'd both been sick and Sally hadn't been around to take care of them.  
  
He rapped softly on the door and was glad when Sally opened the door. She tried to slam it shut, but he stepped past her into the house before she could recover enough to do so.  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
"I came back." Wufei answered simply.  
  
"You think you can just walk back into our lives after four years and turn our lives upside down? What are you going to do then huh? Walk out on us again? Just leave. You've already caused enough pain in this house."  
  
"Sally, I came back to beg your forgiveness and ask for a second chance."  
  
"And why exactly should I give it to you? What have you to offer us?"  
  
"I can't take back what I did Sally. I made a terrible mistake. I can't go back and fix it, but I can try to atone for it."  
  
"And what brought on this change of heart? I thought you didn't want to be around a cripple and a mute?"  
  
"My eyes were opened for me. I was working at a chemical factory, undercover for Lady Une, and someone found out I was a Preventer. They threw some sort of chemical at me when they tried to escape and it blinded me Sally. I've been blind for the last two years."  
  
"And? What is it like being handicapped?"  
  
"It's hard as hell. It took me five times the normal time to do simple things like get dressed in the morning, and it seemed like it took forever to learn. My eyesight returned recently, but only enough to where I can do things easier, but not great." Sally looked at him with appraising eyes as he continued, "I realized then how my children felt, and how many years I wasted when I was away from them. I've come here to apologize and if you'll have me, I'll come back."  
  
"Don't ask me. Ask your kids." Sally said, pointing out back. As he passed her Wufei gave her a thankful smile. He threw a packet of papers on the table as he passed. Sally couldn't help but pick them up to look at them and found they were the divorce papers she'd sent back to him. He hadn't signed them.  
  
He found Shen and Lan Caihe sitting out under a giant oak tree in the back yard. Shen was sitting in his wheel chair under a massive oak tree in the back yard, reading a book when Wufei came outside. His glasses were perched on the end of his nose and his loose shoulder length hair fell into his face, obscuring his vision some. As he reached up to brush it back he spotted Wufei.  
  
"Dad!" He dropped the book on the ground and wheeled the chair over to his father, only standing once he was there to embrace him. "I'm glad you're home. I wish you wouldn't go away again."  
  
"Do you want me to stay?"  
  
His son looked at him and said, "What I want doesn't matter. Ask Lan. She'll decide if you're worthy of coming back or not." He pointed at the flowering trees where Lan Caihe was practicing her new kendo moves.  
  
Wufei walked over to her slowly and was about to speak when his daughter dropped her practice blade and took his face between her hands. She stared into his eyes for a few minutes before looking down and away towards Shen. He nodded once at her and she turned back to her father and hugged him tightly.  
  
"Don't leave again papa. You're home now." Wufei was so happy that he enveloped her in a hug and swung her around laughing.  
  
"You speak!" he yelled joyously.  
  
"She always has. You just never listened. There's more than one way to speak dad. You just need to learn to listen with your eyes, and see with your heart."  
  
"Teach me." Wufei said and they walked hand in hand back into the house.  
  
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Dream Keeper: Okay, I hope you all learned something from this! Be nicer to people with disabilities! They may be different, but they're the same too!  
  
Christa: Sorry we changed Lan Caihe's name, but Mayumi didn't suit her, and I was using it in another fic. That and it wasn't really from a legend. Lan Caihe is the name of one of the original eight Chinese gods. Er, goddess in this case. Shen and Lan Caihe weren't twins, and they never met, but it made the story sound better.  
  
Dream Keeper: Okay, must post now. Bye! Please enjoy!  
  
Christa: Don't forget to R&R which means read AND REVIEW!!!!!!  
  
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